American clothing in the time period of 1850-1900 substantially changed a great deal as accesories became a great deal for men and women. Merchants from the old world were quick to appreciate the rapidly expanding market for clothing as business thrived in this time period. European styles became popular in America for females as the gradual return to a narrow silhouette thrived after the full skirted fashion. For men, patterned or figured fabrics for shirts and the general replacement of neckties spread in America. Like era’s before this time period, your income depended on how you dressed and how good of a quality the clothing is.

Clothing in this time started to thrive more unlike the other time periods, as more and more people bought clothing from businesses. Women’s dresses filled up in the rear end and this fashion required an underskirt.Day time dresses had high neck lines as the night dresses had low neck lines, they also wore short gloves and they also included velvet ribbons on the neck. Hair was also important to their look as they usually pulled it back and had bangs. Women also wore straw hats and hats with veils. For the men ditto suits became popular which was a three piece suit. Only the rich males had full length overcoats which was luxury in the winter. Top hats were still a main accessory for the upper class, and this time period started many different ways you can tie ties. Children’s fashion at an early age didn’t have different genders as all young children wore the same types of clothing. Young men usually dressed like their father as they also wore blazers, for the young ladies their dresses got longer as they grew older.

This image illustrates the type of fashion ladies were into in this time period. Their hairstyle which was knotted up in the back depicts the hairstyle of this time period. Their dresses bunched up in the rear end for style and it had patterns on them which was originally from Europe. Accessories illustrated the income of your family as this picture illustrates the wealth of these two young ladies with their colorful scarf and their expensive umbrellas. They also wore dresses that were down to their ankles which is a necessity as all the ladies in this time period did.

As the styles of each decade changes, fashion always goes back to their roots and this is what this time period had. As styles went back to the old days, but with a fresher look, men’s clothing also became more fashionable as accessories became more and more popular. Clothing in America starts to develop now as their own even though they are taking ideas from Europe. The businesses in America start to finally thrive and later on they start designing their own clothing.